Need for Speed to Take Advantage of Grant

As we move further into the Agricultural Transition, agricultural inputs climb and uncertainty surrounds the industry, now is increasingly the time to look at how you can achieve best value of your products. Grant funding is now available to agricultural businesses to complete additional processing, for instance by installing a farm butchery, adding a milk vending machine or processing of crops, with many more options to be considered.

The initial application window is short and an enquiry needs to be submitted by midnight on the 21st July 2022. This new grant is open to growers, producers and processors of agricultural and horticultural products in England to ‘add value to the core agricultural or horticultural product. This can be through the preparation for sale or by the retailing of eligible agricultural products.

Should the project pass through the first stage, an invitation to form a full application will be sent to those businesses with the highest scoring projects. The grant is expected to cover 40% of eligible project costs, with the minimum grant applied for being £25,000 (40% of £62,500). The maximum grant per applicant business is £300,000.

A list of examples of eligible items is provided below:

- Equipment for preparing or processing edible agricultural products for added value sales

- Equipment for ‘second stage’ processing of grain - for example, colour sorting, blending

- Equipment for processing non-edible agricultural products into new products (for example, flax, hemp, wool, hides, and skins)

- Equipment for retailing eligible agricultural products (for example, vending machines or display facilities)

- Premises for the preparation or processing of added value agricultural products, including associated integral storage areas

Projects, which provide wider benefits to other businesses, and the environment in particular, will be prioritised. The use of renewable energy, sustainable packaging and the introduction of energy or water usage savings offer potential project benefits,which may improve application scoring.

If you have an idea that you feel will benefit from the added value grant and wish to discuss it further, get in touch with Ryan Doble of our Rural Grants Team on 01404 46222 or email ryan.doble@gth.net